Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): January 2023 Requirements

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) packaging reforms will start from 01 January 2023, industry will be required to start collecting data on packaging waste.

This is a requirement under the Collection and Packaging Reforms (CPR) programme, which includes three projects: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR); Deposit Return Scheme (DRS); and consistency in household and business recycling (referred to as Consistency).

These projects collectively aim to achieve a reduction in littering of packaging; reduction in landfill, incineration waste and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; elimination of avoidable plastic waste; increase in municipal recycling, a reduction in emissions from the waste sector; and smarter recyclable packaging choices by industry. Each reform has a different scope.

Packaging EPR is being delivered in phases and the first phase begins in all four nations from 01 January 2023.

obligation checker

To assist businesses in understanding whether they are obligated under packaging EPR, Defra have developed an interactive Obligation Checker. This tool helps to assess whether your business meets the thresholds for the waste cost and recycling obligations (reporting and payments) and the nation of sale obligation (reporting). Find out more over here.

To understand your obligations under EPR, it is important to differentiate between two distinct sets of obligations.

The first is the waste cost and recycling obligations, with an obligation to report placed on the market data, meet recycling obligations, and pay disposal costs for Local Authority collected waste.
The second is the nation of sale obligation, with an obligation to report where packaging is disposed, broken down by nation within the UK.

Waste cost and recycling obligations

These obligations are closely related to the existing producer responsibility for packaging scheme. Producers who are captured under these obligations must register with their regulator, collect and report information on the packaging that they supply to the UK market.

For those who have a ’full obligation‘, they will then have to meet further obligations based on this data, as set out in guidance.

Nation of sale obligation

This is a data reporting only obligation, where packaging must be broken down by the nation in the UK where it was disposed.

Not all producer types will be obligated for both sets of obligations.

Understanding whether your business is obligated or not, requires assessing your business against a range of criteria across two obligations, which can be done via the Obligation Checker.

Defra webinars on packaging data reporting

Defra recently held webinars to take industry through the Extended Producer Responsibilities requirements from 1 January 2023,and to share what information would need to be collected, what businesses will need to do, when businesses will need to do it by, and how.

If you were not able to join these sessions, you can now watch the webinar recording on YouTube. There are two videos covering the following

An overview of Collections and Packaging Reforms
EPR requirements from 1 January 2023
Packaging definitions
Differences between Household and non-Household Packaging
Producer types
Demonstration of the Obligation Checker
Data submission

If you have any problems viewing the EPR collated videos, here are the individual links to the two videos.

If you have any questions on the webinars, please contact Defra Packaging team here.

Frequently asked questions on PACKAGING DATA REQUIREMENTS

PACKAGING EPR Timeline for reporting and payments

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Statutory Instrument

A draft Statutory Instrument (SI) was laid in Parliament on 22 November 2022. Expected to come into force on 28 February 2023.

These regulations require producers of packaging to collect and report data on the amount and type of packaging that they place on the market. This data is required to calculate the fees that these producers will be required to pay to cover the cost of managing this packaging as part of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging scheme which is planned to start in 2024.

This draft SI is for England and will be made under powers in the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999. It has been closely developed with Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, who will shortly be laying mirroring Statutory Instruments in their own nations. Whilst they are separate SIs, they are drafted to allow producers to capture and report their packaging data at a UK level into a single UK wide data reporting system.

Note that businesses will only have to report UK data in the nation they are headquartered.